Facebook at Work Brings Social Network to Businesses

Looking for a way to better unify your teams and communicate with employees? After months of rumors, Facebook has finally unveiled its new Facebook at Work social network platform for business.

The company launched today (Jan. 14) its new Work app, which lets businesses create their own social networks using the Facebook platform. First reported by TechCrunch back in June, Work is now available to limited iOS and Android business users.

Work essentially repurposes Facebook for business use. Using the app, businesses can build their own social network just for employees — a network that looks and works exactly like Facebook, News Feed and all.

Users can post status updates, share content, send messages, start groups and more. Unlike Facebook, however, employees don't have complete control over their accounts — only employers have the ability to create and manage accounts, which gives them more control over their social network and employee accessibility.

What makes Work different?

Granted, there are already several services that already do what Work does. There's Microsoft's Yammer, Slack and Socialcast, to name a few. What makes Work different is that it brings the familiarity of Facebook to the workplace for better functionality and improved employee engagement.

Employees can also link their Work account with their personal Facebook account. This way, they can log in simultaneously and have everything in one place for better manageability.

Availability and pricing

Work is currently launched as a pilot program and testing is said to be limited to select companies with more than 100 employees. Facebook has yet to announce official pricing or monetization details (such as ads or in-app purchases) for the Work app. It is currently free for preapproved businesses to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

In addition to the mobile app, the service is also available via Facebook at Work on the main Facebook website.

Sara Angeles

Sara is a tech writer with a background in business and marketing. After graduating from UC Irvine, she worked as a copywriter and blogger for nonprofit organizations, tech labs and lifestyle companies. She started freelancing in 2009 and joined Business News Daily in 2013. Follow Sara Angeles on Twitter @sara_angeles.